title: Confirmation of oleander poisoning by HPLC/MS.
abstract: A non-fatal case of Nerium oleander (common oleander) self-poisoning in a 45-year-old female is presented. Initial symptoms were nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, phosphenes, cardiovascular shock and sinus brady-cardia. Blood and urine were assayed for oleandrin, the major cardiac glycoside of N. oleander, using a highly specific HPLC/MS procedure. The blood concentration of oleandrin at admission was 1.1 ng/ml. This is the first report of an oleander intoxication ascertained by the mass spectrometric identification of oleandrin in blood. HPLC/MS appears to be the method of choice for the forensic-toxicological investigation of poisonings by cardiac glycosides.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Médecine Légale, Faculte de Medecine, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tracqui
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kintz
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Branche
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ludes
mesh_terms: D002298:Cardenolides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D002301:Cardiac Glycosides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted
chemical_list: D002298:Cardenolides; D002301:Cardiac Glycosides; C021065:oleandrin